Amylin's San Diego operations closing

San Diego  Bristol-Myers Squibb, the drug giant that bought Amylin Pharmaceuticals last summer, plans to shutter its San Diego operations by the end of 2014.

The decision closes the books on one of San Diego’s most famous biotech companies, a pioneer in new diabetes therapies. It also means hundreds of employees will be dislocated and hundreds of thousands of square feet of office and lab space will be put on the market.

“By the end of 2014, we plan to have all work being done in San Diego transitioned to other Bristol-Myers Squibb sites,” spokesman Frederick Egenolf said by email Tuesday. “Beyond that, we will likely have a small number of people working on closing the San Diego facilities by the end of (March) 2015.”

Egenolf said New York City-based Bristol-Myers is closing its San Diego operations to become more efficient, and to eliminate redundant positions.

It’s a familiar story in San Diego: Successful biotech and high-tech companies grow to a certain size. They’re bought by much larger companies from out of the area and are shut down, or gradually dissolved.

That was the fate of Hybritech, San Diego’s first biotech company, purchased in 1986 by Eli Lilly, the Indianapolis drug company.

Although Amylin’s impending closure deprives the region of a biotech mainstay, San Diego’s history suggests that something better could replace it, said UC San Diego’s Mary Walshok, a longtime student of San Diego innovation-based economy.

“It’s not companies that matter, it’s people that matter,” said Walshok, associate vice chancellor for public programs and dean of UCSD Extension. “San Diego’s strength is in the talent that is resident here.”

While Hybritech disappeared, its alumni are still leading, forming and investing in biotech companies. These include David Hale (Santarus), Tina Nova (Genoptix Medical Laboratory), Ivor Royston (Forward Ventures) and Timothy Wollaeger (Sanderling Ventures).

Among the companies emerging out of Hybritech was Amylin itself, inspired by Howard “Ted” Greene, Hybritech’s founding chief executive.

Biotech veteran Joe Panetta took a more somber view.

“It’s a shame to see a company like Amylin not have a presence in San Diego,” said Panetta, chief executive of the life science trade group Biocom.

Panetta said the news wasn’t a surprise, because Bristol-Myers had not given any indication that it intended to expand or maintain Amylin’s presence in San Diego.

And while new companies will undoubtedly emerge from Amylin alumni, Panetta said, the more immediate concern is finding jobs for those laid off.

About 420 people now work at Amylin in San Diego, said Egenolf, the Bristol-Myers spokesman. When appropriate, these employees will be considered for relocation if they are interested. Those being laid off are being offered severance packages and help finding other jobs.

Outside San Diego, Amylin employs more than 300 people in Ohio and nearly 400 at various locations in field-based sales and medical roles, Egenolf said. These positions will be brought into Bristol-Myers.

Total employment at Amylin at the time of the acquisition last summer was about 1,250, The current total is about 1,100.